Constraining the origins, transport history, and burial efficiency of terrestrial organic carbon (OC_terr) accumulating in marine sediments is of fundamental importance for understanding the carbon cycle on a range of spatial and temporal scales. While there is abundant evidence that OC composition and age influences the sequestration of OC_terr in surface sediments, little is known about longer-term controls on OC_terr sources and burial efficiencies in response to natural and anthropogenic processes that influence marginal sea sediments. Here, we use bulk and molecular-level carbon isotopic (δ¹³C and Δ¹⁴C) measurements to examine depth-related variations in the sources, ages and burial efficiency of OC_terr in a sediment core that captures deposition over the last 200 years in the central Yellow Sea mud area, the largest mud deposit in eastern Chinese marginal seas. The similar ¹⁴C ages of terrestrial higher plant long-chain fatty acid biomarkers (1830 to 2700 yr) to those of sedimentary OC (1890 to 3360 yr) suggest the continuous and dominant supply of pre-aged OC (OC_pre-aged). Two carbon isotopic mixing models are used to apportion contributions from different terrestrially-derived OC pools. A dual carbon mixing model based on bulk OC and molecular δ¹³C and Δ¹⁴C values showed OC_pre-aged and fossil OC (OC_fossil) accounted for 52 ± 3% and 13 ± 2% of sedimentary OC, respectively; while a binary mixing model based on bulk δ¹³C values showed OC_terr accounted for 45 ± 3% of sedimentary OC. Estimates of high burial efficiency for OC (~60%) and especially for the different terrestrial OC pools (>80%) over the last 200 years highlight that refractory millennial-aged terrestrial OC inputs from the Yellow River combined with stable depositional conditions promote OC preservation in the Yellow Sea. Notably, OC_pre-aged and OC_fossil exhibited contrasting fates, with higher burial efficiency for the former. These observations are attributed to differences in mineral associations, transport pathways as well as changes in sediment provenance and hydrodynamic regime. Furthermore, our results suggest that initial sequestration of OC_terr in surface sediments presages long-term burial in deeper sediments despite the existence of temporal variability. Although not directly influenced by riverine discharge, persistent and efficient sequestration of millennial-aged terrestrial OC renders the distal marginal sea mud area a long-term carbon sink on (at least) centennial to millennial timescales.
 

Terrestrial organic carbon,High burial efficiency,Molecular-level isotopes (13C and 14C),Marginal seas